"The BBC has admitted taking more than £2 million in European Union funding over the past three years, in a move that critics said called into doubt the corporation’s impartiality over the forthcoming European referendum.The broadcaster said it had taken the cash under the European Union framework programme, to fund its research and development arm, which is working on projects such as 3D broadcasting, and ultra-high definition filming.The BBC is not allowed to spend the money on programme-making or newsgathering, and corporation sources insisted that the grants helped the entire broadcasting sector develop new technology, and had no impact on editorial decisions.But critics of the corporation said that accepting any EU funding in the run-up to the referendum, expected before the end of 2017, was inappropriate.

Andrew Bridgen, a Conservative MP and a stern critic of the corporation, said: “Everyone knows that the BBC has an inbuilt pro-EU bias, but it should be above reproach during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to vote on the future of our relationship with Europe. It already receives £3.7 billion from the licence fee, and taking EU funding unavoidably creates the impression that it is being paid to do the EU’s bidding.”In the financial year 2013/14 the BBC took £878,000, while in 2014/15 it received £778,000. The broadcaster has received £476,000 in the current financial year, but that figure is expected to rise. The EU transparency register, where the payments are listed, states: “Grants are non-programme related projects undertaken by BBC R&D.”A BBC spokesman said: “BBC News protects its impartiality by not permitting any external funding, which includes EU grants. Our annual report discloses any income received from grants covering a variety of areas, of which, a very small proportion comes from the EU for non-news research and development projects.”Earlier this year it emerged that BBC Media Action, an independent charity that operates on an arms-length basis, received £9.3 million in European funding between 2011 and 2014, much of it to deliver the EU's European Neighbourhood Policy.As part of this work, BBC Media Action led a consortium of media companies under a three-year project which provided training for hundreds of journalists in 17 countries on the outskirts of Europe.James Harding, the director of BBC News, told MPs in October that every one of the corporation’s journalists will be sent on a compulsory training course about the EU, in a bid to ensure impartial coverage of the referendum. (Well, the training course has not worked).The executive admitted that the poll would “test perceptions of the BBC’s impartiality”.

_________________The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear.Jiddu Krishnamurti